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Ambika Muttoo

Considering we’ve had our fair share of amfAR stories on this blog, we’ve realized it’s the place to really push for fashion. Want to change up your look? This is the place? Want to show off fabulous gowns by the really serious designers? Definitely the space. Yesterday’s amfAR gala, held at Cipriani’s Wall Street in New York, was the ideal space to really class things up, considering it was a party to kick off Fall 2013 edition of Fashion Week. And where there’s fashion, there’s Sarah Jessica Parker. We’re still trying to wrap our heads around her Maison Martin Margiela Spring 2013 Couture gown. We love the texture and the fuchsia but are still trying to “get” the black and white skinny, long scarf. The whole thing seems to be swamping her figure. Heidi Klum, as expected, went the sexy route wearing a plunging, shimmering Michael Kors black gown buffed up with Lorraine Schwartz jewelry. The two real surprises were Ashley Greene and Lindsay Lohan. Ashley is stunning but she regularly gets one element of her look wrong. Not this time, we thought she looked like a goddess in her white Giambattista Valli gown with the gold laurel leaf belt. The hair worked. The makeup worked. Everything worked. Then there was Lindsay who wore a sparkly, tasseled Theia Spring 2011 gown. Let’s just ignore her hair for a second, because she looks pretty damn okay, right? The gown’s sexy and her body looks good. This is a huge step forward! Now if only her hair and makeup would follow suit — we’d be happy campers.

When we saw these new photographs of Jennifer Aniston, we were quite taken aback. Changing your hair drastically can completely change your look, and that’s what’s happened to Miss Jen. In this case — in the photograph on the right — we feel she’s looking a bit like Nicole Kidman. Is that just us or are we going a bit loony? This new blond hair is for her role in a movie which, as of right now, is being called the “Untitled Elmore Leonard Project” and is being filmed in Connecticut. IMDB tells us that the project also stars Isla Fisher, Tim Robbins, John Hawkes and Mos Def. This platinum ‘do is a wig, FYI, but it’s going to be around for a while. We’re not quite sure that’s a good thing because it’s a big change from the brunette, sun-streaked Jen we’re normally used to seeing. But, it’s probably going to grow on us. And we’re feeling especially lovey towards the actress because she’s turning 44 next week — on February 11. But our opinion doesn’t count as much as yours does, so tell us what you think of her new hair? Like it? Or not so much?

You can never secretly date for too long in Hollywood, right? The latest couple who tried to keep their budding relationship on the down-low are Adam Brody and Leighton Meester. We will forever associate Adam with The O.C and Leighton, of course, with Gossip Girl, but they two genetically blessed ones starred together in The Oranges which released in 2011. Blair Waldorf dating Seth Cohen — who woulda thunk it. A source helpfully explains that, “they were always close and friendly” and that they’ve been “hanging out.” The couple have also been travelling together, trying to get away from prying cameras and eyes, we’re sure, and were seen together at the fancy pants Siam Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok last month. The couple that travels together stays together? We hope that’s the case because the more we think about, the more adorable the two seem. They were also busted on Twitter by some bystanders as they caught some exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this month. So, is this one going to be officially confirmed or are we going to have to be okay with more sightings? Either way, good luck you two!

It’s nice to shake things up in the style department. Have we ever had a man versus a woman in our style posts before? Only once, because this something that happens very intermittently. The first time was when we pitted Jennifer Aniston‘s leather dress against Kanye West‘s leather skirt. And we hate to break it to ‘Ye, but Jen’s creaming him in the poll. This poll is far less contriversial, and it puts us in a rather happy mood. There’s something about a blue suit that makes us smile. It ain’t black, it ain’t grey, it ain’t brown— it’s got it’s own little fashionista thing going. First up, on the left, we have Josh Duhamel looking surprised that he’s looking that great in his sharply cut Ralph Lauren blue duds at the premiere of his new film, Safe Haven, held at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Tuesday (yesterday) in Hollywood. Giving him competition is a cheeky Ginnifer Goodwin who works her blue Nonoo shorts suit at a Listerine event held at the Gabarron Museum in New York. We think they both look pretty adorbs, so we’re going to put this one up for vote! Who looks better?

Is this weird? Is this gross? Is this oddly compelling? All of the above and then some. Justin Bieber was on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night and something about the presence of Jimmy Fallon made him comfortable enough to bare his soul. And by baring his soul we mean … baring his abs. He sauntered in with his leather pants, his camo jacket and this red kicks — basically took over the studio like the boss he is — and gave Fallon the money shot of all money shots which you can see right below. Of course he has the cheek to say, “my abs are not my musical guest,” when Fallon talked about his famous six-pack, because, lets face it, they will always be his very special guest, musical or otherwise.

But that’s not the weird, gross, compelling part. We say this to snap you out of the washboard stomach shock you just went into. And to prepare you for your next spell, we’ll just spit it out — Justin made out with a mannequin on television. Read more…

So, Monday was a busy day for Oscar nominee’s and various other stars who buff up guest lists around this time. ‘Tis the month of the Academy Awards and the lead-up to it always has a bunch of events and and other awards shows crammed into a two-month period. The Oscar nominees’ luncheon happened in the afternoon, and as we’ve already reviewed, it was a bit of a boring affair, sartorially speaking. Things looked up a tad more at night, at The Hollywood Reporter Nominees’ Night at Spago, in Beverly Hills.

Where Jennifer Lawrence got it it wrong in Chloe in the afternoon, she fared better here in a nude, bedazzled Versace number with metallic, neutral peep-toe heels. The look is sexier, as the hair’s also thicker and more tousled. Now if only Jen’s team would get their lengths right. This dress should have had a couple of inches lopped off. Jessica Chastain‘s Erdem afternoon look was elegant and feminine, but she sexed it up for the night taking on a black Givenchy Resort 2012 peplum with a draped bodice, paired with a pair of hot smoky, kohl-laden eyes. We like the architectural effect, even though it’s a tad fussy. While Amy Adams earlier outfit somewhat tanked, she did heaps better at the THR bash wearing a lovely, lacy black, peplum dress. She didn’t ditch the nude heels, though. Why, Hollywood, why? With all the shoe designers of the world throwing shoes of every color and size at you — you pick nude, clunky pumps.

Many other celebrities walked the red carpet, as well. Naomi Watts was back, but this time, in a white blazer and tight silver pants which looked effortlessly cool on her. Julia Stiles was there in a deep purple, long-sleeved dress, while Morena Baccarin chose a white patterned flounced frock. Lauren Dern highlighted her incredible figure — how is this woman 45-years-old — by cinching her simple black dress with a belt. And finally, Natasha Bedingfield jollied things up wearing cherry red tights, as pants. We don’t even mind, because she has the personality to pull things off that most people can’t! You can see it all in the gallery below.

The thing to to remember about the Academy Awards Nominations Luncheon is that it is a lunch, not an awards show. That compounded with the fact that it’s held in the afternoon should suffice to make it an elegant, low-key event, fashion-wise, right? Well, we’re not quite sure. This is still Hollywood. We’d like a tad more ritz to our “low-key” please. The luncheon took place yesterday at the Beverly Hilton, and the red carpet was a bit snooze-worthy. We’ll start with the floral brigade, where, surprisingly, Jessica Chastain fared far better than our style favorite, Amy Adams. Amy’s J. Mendel Spring 2013 collection long-sleeve, below-the-knee, chiffon frock totally swamped her. Even though the various purples of the dress were stunning, and it features a cut-out back, front the front, it ended up making her look mumsy. The fact that she wore block-like, nude Casadei platform pumps did not help her case.

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Jessica picked a larger, more vibrant print with her navy Erdem Pre-Fall 2013 sheath. She also wore nude heels, but hers were pointed Loboutin pumps, which although not ideal, were better than Amy’s. Moving on to the lighter shades, Helen Hunt‘s ruched pewter Dolce & Gabbana totally showed off her amazing figure. Sadly, the curse of the nude heel struck again, and this time it was a pair of chunky, strappy Jimmy Choos. What was even more sad was Jennifer Lawrence‘s white Chloe Spring 2013 dress, which did absolutely nothing for her. Shin-length and weirdly draped at the bodice, and paired with a ploddy black Casadei pumps, J.Law gave gorgeous face, but the rest of her her was baffling.

We’ll end with the good stuff. The two black looks of the afternoon were worn by beauties Anne Hathaway and Naomi Watts. Anne’s was a safe, yet elegant sleeveless sheath by The Row. We love that she lightened the look up with open-toe sandals and that pop of pink lippie, not to mention her lovely Jennifer Meyer bracelets and rings. We also loved Naomi’s textured black Valentino frock, especially with the Christian Louboutin Paulina pumps she chose to wear the appropriate, yet slightly whimsical outfit with. Have a click-over our gallery to see all the looks and who else attended the big event.

A lot of celebrities had double duty on Saturday night as there were a number of Super Bowl parties happening in New Orleans, most notably the GQ Super Bowl Party with Lil Wayne performing and the DIRECTV Celebrity Beach Bowl, where Justin Timberlake brought Jay-Z onstage. The celebs at the earlier party were pretty casual, but they cleaned up quite nicely for the evening to-do. Except Josh Hutcherson and Chace Crawford, who showed up in denim and a baseball cap and a lot of facial scruff, respectively. They should have taken style cues from Ryan Kwanten and Matt Bomer who both nailed it in sharp suits.

Of course, our eyes were trained on one very gorgeous Ian Somerhalder who turned out in a simple black shirt and jeans. Simple … but perfect, as always. The two ladies in attendance also did quite nicely. Kate Upton slicked on some red lipstick, twisted her hair up in a messy updo and slid into some skinny black pants, a leather bomber jacket and a pair of dark cherry-pointed pumps. Can’t really go wrong with that, right? Hayden Panettiere also took on a three-piece combination but topped hers with a white blazer and beautifully ironed shiny hair. The piece de resistance was her neon orange pumps. It takes a lot to upstage Kate, but we think Hayden managed it. Have a look at our gallery below to see full-length pictures of everyone in attendance.

Before we say anything about the lovely actresses who attended the Directors Guild Of America Awards on Saturday night in Hollywood, we want to proclaim our love for Quvenzhane Wallis, who blows everyone else out of the water. This 9-year-old has so much style and personality that she floors us. Check her out in her custom-made David Meister hot-pink satin frock. And that bulldog bag. Best-dressed, for sure. Almost looking as good as Miss Q was Jennifer Garner, who’s really upping it in the style stakes these days. She looked lovely in a pure white Antonio Berardi Resort 2013 fitted dress, complemented with Cartier jewelry and a silver Ferragamo clutch and pumps of the same color and same brand. Berenice Bejo was slinky in a black and gold sequined, drop-waist Pre-Fall 2013 Louis Vuitton look. Her clutch and sandals were by LV too, and everything was tied together by her blood-red matte lipstick and side-swept curls.

Lena Dunham wore a custom, color-blocked, strapless Thakoon frock that would have been awesome (we love hot pink and orange together) had the fit been better. The back also had a sash which was on its way to becoming this cool obi-like, belt detailing. We wish they had committed to that and gone all the way. Because it all ended up looking a bit sloppy and we would’ve yanked her dress up all night, had we have been around her. Anne Hathaway wore a look we adored: a baroque-patterned Valentino Fall 2012 Couture dress that looked so fresh, yet edgy, yet feminine on her that we’re almost barfing with “Love me, Valentino, Love, me!” How adorable is her hair getting too? Do we wish she had worn something better than the Casedei heels she had on? Sure. But we don’t need to look at her feet because the face and dress make us happy. Have a look at the gallery to see the looks in full and to check out who else was there.

Did you read our piece published yesterday of Lindsay Lohan making a desperate dash from New York to L.A. to make her court date? After trying to wiggle out of it by pretending to be sick, and then being photographed in NYC the very same day, shopping and smoking, of course. Did you also shake your head, much as we did, and sigh, “Oh, Lindz …” Well, to answer the question posed yesterday: She made it to court in one piece. We say in one piece because anyone wearing those huge, unwieldy Christian Louboutin platforms in the picture you see above, could fall off them. And also because two hotels in Santa Monica rejected her, and mother Dina Lohan, as they arrived late at night. The Beverly Hills Hotel finally took them in, FYI. As expected, the judge (or Lindsay’s old nemesis, as we like to call her), Stephanie Sautnerbusted the actress’ chops, even saying, “I’m glad you’re feeling better” as a dig towards Lindz’s lame attempt to not fly to L.A. She’s also said L.L. could still be found in violation of her probation, even if the jury finds her not guilty, and has set a trial date for March 1.

So that’s that, for a quick recap. But now we want to focus on Lindsay’s new addition: the tattoo you see on the right. It’s etched on her right upper arm and features a red triangle and what appears to be written, “What dreams may come.” It’s a terrible ink job, we will admit. And really, that’s what you focus on befor going to trial? A tattoo? Any guesses to what the significance of the red triangle and words mean? Have at it it in the comments section below.